The body of a Class 11 student of the prestigious Kolkata school La Martiniere for Boys was found floating in Rabindra Sarobar on Friday morning. Riju Basak, 17, had been missing since Wednesday. It was not clear if he had committed suicide or was murdered.
Riju, of 10, Chaitanya Lane in Kolkata’s Bowbazar area, was an only child. Classmates and teachers described him as a good student who also painted, wrote poetry, played the guitar and participated in extra-curricular school activities.
Riju’s father, Kajal Basak, said the boy last spoke to his mother Wednesday evening after which his mobile was unreachable. “My son did not attend school on Monday and Tuesday as he was not feeling well. On Wednesday he went to school. Riju called his mother to say the school had selected him to take part in a creative writing event at Max Mueller Bhavan. We later learnt that he was dropped by the school bus outside Chandni Chowk Metro station,” Mr Basak said.
He said his son again called home from there to say he would return in the evening. Around 6 pm, Riju’s mother received the last call from the boy’s number after which it was unreachable and later switched off.
On Friday morning, the family’s call went unanswered. The family informed the police and the call was traced to in and around the Rabindra Sarobar area. During a search operation by the Charu Market police and the family, Rabindra Sarobar security personnel said a boy’s body had been found floating in the lake at around 11.30 am. The Basaks identified the body as that of Riju. The body was sent for a post-mortem and later handed over to the family.